Breathe
by mockingjay341
Summary: Ruby and Clancy are trapped and injured, and Clancy has something he needs to say to his girlfriend - just in case. (Ruby/Clancy. Set about fifteen years after 'Blink and You Die', but there are no spoilers for any of the books.)


**A/N: So I know I haven't posted in forever, but I'm kind of running low on new ideas - I feel like my stories are getting repetitive, so it took me a while to plan out this one.**

 **RenaeMaeDae, (who reviewed one of my other stories), I couldn't manage to PM you so I'll just respond here - I hadn't really considered the physics of the whole glass tank scenario, so apologies for that logic error! Hopefully this will make up for it; thanks for taking the time to read and review anyway!**

...

Ruby can't stop coughing. Her throat is burning, and the more she gasps for air, the worse it gets, but she can't stop. It's dark all around her; the light cut off when the ceiling fell in, blocking the stairway up to the surface. She clamps her hand over her mouth and nose and closes her eyes tightly when they too start to sting.

"Ruby!" She faintly hears Clancy yelling, before the shouts dissolve into coughing similar to her own. He sounds panicked and distant, but at least he's not dead yet. That's all that matters. Ruby pulls a crumpled serviette out of her back pocket (where it's from she can't place place right now, but she knows she went there with Clance) and holds it over her face with one hand, then rumages around in her backpack, which she thankfully didn't loose in the explosion.

Soon enough, she can almost breathe normally, and has managed to pull a torch out of her bag. It's small and weak, but she clutches it like a lifeline anyway. Clancy has gone quiet, so she does her best to remember where his voice came from, and starts walking.

...

It takes her only a few minutes to find him. Her eyes have adjusted to the darkness, but dust still clouds the air and she can't see further than a metre ahead. He's on the floor, concious but unable to move very far; his right leg pinned by a piece of fallen rubble. He's squinting when he first comes into view, but he quickly gets used to the sudden light and stares at her as though he's looking at a ghost. "Heya, Clance." Ruby crouches beside him, wanting to hug him but not wanting to make his leg any worse. She settles for holding his hand.

"H-hi." He blinks at her again, then grins goofily. "D'you get the bad guy?"

Ruby nearly laughs. She'd completely forgotten about the bomber himself; he was long gone, buried beneath the hundreds of tonnes of rubble that he himself had caused. The irony doesn't escape her, but she can't bring herself to joke about it. "He's not going to be a problem again." Then she remembers what she had told Clancy to before she'd taken off after the criminal. "Did you get everyone out?"

"Everyone that I'm aware of, yeah." He nods. His words are sluggish, and as he speaks, Ruby notices a gash in the side of his head. She reaches up and gently strokes the tips of her fingers over it, feeling the lump and the blood that disguises it.

"Not yourself, though." She says pointedly. He just shrugs, then winces as she runs her hand over the cut again, more roughly. "Sorry." She mutters. The two of them seem to synchronise thoughts, and together their gaze slides down to where Clancy's leg is buried.

"I, uh... " He struggles for words, and Ruby wonders why he's even bothering. "I've had bit of a fall."

She just rolls her eyes. "Chin up, Crew; it could be worse." She attempts a laugh, trying to lighten the tone of the conversation, but it falls flat. "Sorry." She adds again, as an afterthought. A loud rumble shakes the whole tunnel, and her hand tightens around Clancy's.

"You need to find a way out, Rube." He urges, his voice so matter-of-fact she could hit him if not for the dire situation they're in. "Come on, this place is going collapse any second!"

In response, she sits firmly on the ground beside him.

"Ruby-"

"When have I ever left you anywhere?" She whispers, uncharacteristically solemn.

"Well there was that time-"

"Don't answer that, bozo." Ruby cuts him off, and he grins at her in a way that nearly makes her forget that his leg is basically detached from the rest of him. Another rumble grinds through the air, and more dust showers them both. Clancy gasps as the bricks over his leg shift, and it's all she can do not to move the rubble off of Clancy herself; she knows that it'll only make his injury ten times worse, but hates not doing anything productive. _Hitch_ , she thinks pleadingly, as she has so many times before: _any time now, bozo_.

"R-Rube?" Clancy murmurs. He's paler than usual, looking even worse than he should in the washed out light of the torch she's directing at him, and crimson stains have made their way from his head down to the collar of his shirt.

"Yeah?" She can't disguise how wobbly her voice is; she's just caught a glimpse of her best friend's leg and it isn't pretty. A thunderous crack rings out from above them, and they both scream as a chunk of ceiling crashed to the floor metres away from them.

"I- I know this isn't the best t-time..." He murmurs over more ominous creaking, "But I have to ask you something."

"What is it? You're not gonna give me another 'If I die' monologue, are you? Because frankly the last one was awful, and you're not going to die today, so-" She stops short when she sees he's struggling to pull something out of his jeans pocket - a small, leather box, she realises, fairly grimy now from all the rubbish falling on them. "C-Clance?"

"Ruby, I've known you forever, and I've s-seen you at your best, and your worst, and you c-could say the same f-for me. You're incredible, and you've saved me more times than I c-care to mention, a-and I hope I can save you just as many in the future. I love you, Ruby, so much." He lets out a big breath and meets her eyes unwaveringly. "I-I'd like to marry you. If you want." He hands her the box shakily, and she takes it, blinking at him speechlessly. She can barely breath again, but this time for an entirely different reason.

Ruby prises open the box, and inside, protected from the explosions, is a pristine, polished, gold ring. It's a simple band with a delicate, oval cut ruby on top, and she can't think of any ring she's ever seen that's prettier than the one she's currently holding. Then she suddenly laughs, and throws herself at Clancy, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'd like to marry you too, buster." She murmurs into his shoulder.

"Yeah?" He mumbles, sounding a little more surprised than Ruby would've liked.

"Yes." She tells him, and they kiss.

...

It's Clancy who breaks the silence when she finally pulls away. The rumbling of the tunnel's infrastructure has reduced to an occasional groan now and then, and whilst they're basically buried underground by this point, they can already hear the beginnings of a rescue mission up on the surface. "... I guess we've gotta survive this now, then, huh?" He says.

Ruby just rolls her eyes at him.

...

 **A/N: And yes, there's no real resolution, but rescue scenes get a little tedious after a while, don't they? Let me know if you'd like a second part though, and I'll try to make it interesting! ;)**


End file.
